Drought dominates

The World Food Programme, releasing their latest evaluation of the drought, has warned that approximately 1 million people have been affected across the country by the drought.

Paddy cultivation in the Maha 2016 season (the main harvest season) was seriously affected by the dry spell, with an expected reduction of 63% in the March/April 2017 harvest resulting in the worst main agricultural harvest season in 40 years. The Yala (minor season from May-August 2017) cultivation is also at a high risk. As a result, household food security and nutrition status is expected to deteriorate in the coming months.

The Government has established a task force and is funneling resources to purchase power, rice and water ahead of imminent shortages. Given the nature of global warming it is evident that drought and flood-related measures will have to be made a permanent part of policymaking with a strong link to environmental conservation, research and technology.  

Traditionally, responses to droughts in Sri Lanka are generally reactive in terms of crisis management and are known to be untimely, poorly coordinated and disintegrated. Consequently, the economic, social and environmental impacts of droughts have increased significantly worldwide. Because of their long-term socioeconomic impacts, droughts are by far the most damaging of all natural disasters.

The context of current droughts calls for proactive future actions to be able to cope with their associated imperatives. Despite the repeated occurrences of droughts throughout human history and their large impacts on different socioeconomic sectors, no concerted efforts have ever been made to initiate a dialogue on the formulation and adoption of national drought policies. Without a coordinated, national drought policy that includes effective monitoring and early warning systems to deliver timely information to decision makers, effective impact assessment procedures, proactive risk management measures, preparedness plans aimed at increasing the coping capacity and effective emergency response programs directed at reducing the impact of drought, nations will continue to respond to drought in a reactive, crisis management mode. 

The Government must adopt policies that engender cooperation and coordination at all levels of Government in order to increase their capacity to cope with extended periods of water scarcity in the event of a drought. The ultimate goal is to create more drought resilient societies. 

This means that the Government will have to create permanent relationships with the private sector, communities and research institutions. The current drought is a result of changing rainfall patterns over many years. In such a situation, private companies for example can provide crop insurance and research can give farmers drought resistant crops. 

To give the Government its due, it has been working to change the start of the major paddy seasons and bring them forward by several weeks but the reception at the community level has been poor. This is largely because knowledge of climate change and its impact have not been readily conveyed to villages along with implementable solutions. Despite drought-related task forces being among the best-funded public bodies, their functions have been ad hoc at best. A major dimension of drought control is protecting forests, wetlands and rivers. Over the past decade Sri Lanka has lost over 200 km of rivers, ironically, mostly to mini hydropower plants that can have devastating effects on ecosystems and the wildlife they support. 

Consistent policy has been a challenge for this Government but it is the only thing that will weather this drought.